Playing Around

Walmart had some fun tree toppers that we had to play around with. We went out in the mid-morning on Black Friday, when all the crazy people had gone home.  Things were pretty picked over but we had fun in the Christmas section.

Courtney's Experiment

This was hilarious!  It was the blind leading the blind on this one.  Courtney was going to have Bryan help her with her science experiment, but we were home with nothing to do so she decided I could help. Honestly, there was just too much we did wrong that it would take forever to explain.

The gist of the experiment is: Courtney wanted to know which turf field made the ball go the fastest.  Her hypothesis was that the older fields would be faster because the softness would have worn out and the ball would be going on, basically, concrete.  She was testing the fields at Snow Canyon, PineView, and Desert Hills.

This is Courtney's contraption with the soccer ball in its place at the soccer field at Snow Canyon High.

This is Courtney, on her stomach, using the phone app to try to gauge the speed at which the soccer ball was going when it passed her.

No, the app didn't work right, but it was completely user-error.  We got the weirdest measurements but didn't know what we were doing so I thought it was great that we had part of her project done.

The next day, Bryan took her out to PineView to do the experiment on their field.  After a bit, he realized that things were not going as they should.  They ended up having to re-do all the previous work so that it would be accurate.

The app we were using was a baseball speed app so you had to push a button when the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and then again when it hits the catcher's mitt.  We were just pushing the button once and trying to figure out why it wasn't recording anything.  Also, the measurements were in miles per hour.  Haha!  The ball is lucky to go feet so that measurement wasn't accurate.  It was great.

In the end, Bryan and Courtney figured it out, got the data from PineView and Snow Canyon, and Courtney knows what to do in order to get accurate data from Desert Hills.  

Bryan's Birthday

Bryan had a birthday!  At work, they gave him a huge box of the best donuts I have ever eaten (yes, there were some to share when he got home although he did eat 2 while in traffic outside of Mesquite).  I think this store is close to his work so it may be a bad thing to know they exist.  There were all kinds of them and they were good!

His birthday dinner was BBQ boneless ribs, wild rice with mushrooms, and green beans.  It was followed up with rootbeer floats, which are his favorite!

We gave him some stink sacks. If you don't know what those are, they are bags that keep odors in so if you go to the gym and have smelly clothes, you can put them in the bag and no one will know the smell is there.  Bryan has been using the Rec Center in Mesquite to work out but didn't want smelly clothes in his car all day. We bought him 3 of them so he can rotate.

I think he had a good day!

Sirius Radio

We don't have Sirius radio but our van is equipped with it and, apparently, you can get some stations for free. Our van suddenly decided it wants to listen to Elvis on Sirius radio.  Each time I turn on the van, no matter if I was listening to the radio or if the radio was off, it will start the Elvis station on Sirius radio.  I can't figure out why it does it or how to get it to change but my mom would love the van if it were hers!

Pics of the girls

Courtney has some great friends at Success Academy and in our neighborhood.  One of her friends, Hayley, had a birthday and I had to document the funny pics that were posted for Happy Birthday posts for her.

They have a favorite study room in the Holland Building at DSU but I don't think much studying actually is done in that room.  They have made Tic Tocs there and have taken tons of pics.  They are a fun group.

Ethan's Christmas Tree

Once again this year I made a paper tree for Ethan.  Thanks to Facebook and our Pack family reunion, I was able to get pictures of family to put on the tree.  I had a hard time this year because I didn't have the same resources I did when I made the tree last year.  I was working at the middle school so I was able to pay for supplies there and use their die cuts.  The city library doesn't have the same resources.  But the woman at the city library was amazing.  I asked if I could buy 6 feet of green butcher paper from them and she told me they don't sell it to the public.  She gave me ideas of where I could go to buy some and then asked why I needed it.  I told her I was making a Christmas tree for my missionary son and she said "Oh, I'll just give you what you need."  So I got paper!

I had to improvise on the lights too.  Last year there was a die-cut of Christmas lights but this year I had to use a teardrop and then a square to make the same shape.  It worked and I think it turned out really cute!

I will send it at the end of the month with his Christmas pillowcase so he can decorate for Christmas in his apartment.

Courtney's Contraption

Courtney had to make a soccer ball kicking machine for her science project.  She came up with the idea and made the machine. I only had to drill a hole in the mallet (that made her a bit nervous).  Here's hoping that it works ok and she gets the information from it that she needs for her experiment.